Apparatus for applying a wrapper leaf on a cigar bunch



Nov. 3, 1964 H. J. MAAS ETAL APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A WRAPPER LEAF ON A CIGAR BUNCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1965 Ow 0m wm hm in ON INVENTORS H ENRiius I MAA S l- E 0 P L n s G N/ E T MW M ATTORNEYS Nov. 3, 1964 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A WRAPPER LEAF ON A CIGAR BUNCH Filed Feb. 25, 1963 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2

INVENTORS HENRicus JIM/1A3 MARTEN G. AALPoEL BY /O w i ATTORNEY S Nov. 3, 1964 H. J. MAAS ETAL 3,155,098

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A WRAPPER LEAF ON A CIGAR BUNCH Filed Feb. 25, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS HENRICUS J. MAAs HARTE'N c. AALPOEL ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,155,098 APPARATUS FDR APPLYING A PER LEAF GN A CIGAR BUNQH Hem-ions J. Mass, Eindhoven, and Marten G. Aalpoel,

Nuenen, Netherlands, assignors to Koninklijke Vereenigde Tahalrsindustrieen Mignot & De Block N.V., Eindhoven, Netherlands, a company of the Netherlands Filed Feb. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 260$ Claims priority, application Netherlands, Mar. 1, H62, 275,404 7 Claims. (Cl. 131-33) The invention relates to an apparatus for applying a wrapper leaf on a cigar bunch, comprising a rolling mechanism having a number of rotatable rollers enclosing a rolling space, said rolling mechanism being capable of being opened on its upper side to admit a bunch into said rolling space and to permit a cigar of being removed from said space, and a movable leaf holder which is adapted to take up a wrapper leaf directly from a die or a stack of leaves and to bring said leaf into a position above said rolling mechanism, said leaf holder being able to guide said leaf, after the latter has been inserted with a leading-in flap in said mechanism, to which end said leaf holder and said rolling mechanism are mounted for relative movement during the rolling process.

Apparatus of this kind are known per se. In these socalled wrapping apparatus the rolling mechanism is stationary and the leaf holder is moved during the rolling process along a very complicated path over the rolling mechanism. For wrapping a bunch for a cigar having a closed or substantially closed spherical or conical fireend portion the leaf holder must be first swung, after the leading-in-end of the flag of the wrapper leaf to cover said fire-end portion has been inserted into the rolling mechanism, almost 180 about the centre of said flag and thereupon moved over the rolling mechanism substantially parallel to itself While enclosing a certain angle With the axis of the rolling space. This complicated movement of the leaf holder requires a conveyor having swingably interconnected parts for the leaf holder and complicated control members.

The invention has for its object to simplify the wrapping apparatus considerably. In the invention both the rolling mechanism and the leaf holder are movably mounted, the arrangement being such as to permit during the rolling process the rolling mechanism to be moved in a direction transverse to the axis of its rolling space and the leaf holder to be swung through a relatively small angle in a plane parallel to the path of the rolling mechanism. In this case a simple conveyor, e.g. a single arm mounted for swinging about a vertical axis, can be used, to which, as in the known wrapping apparatus, the leaf holder is connected for swinging about a vertical axis. During the rolling process the conveyor of the leaf holder may be stationary and the leaf holder has only to be swung through a small angle. It is recommended to provide means to lock the conveyor in a position, in which the leaf holder is situated above the path of the rolling mechanism, so that the leaf holder has only to perform during the rolling process a swinging movement about the axis kept in place by said locking means. This apparatus is particularly suitable to wrap a bunch for a cigar having at least one closed or substantially closed spherical or conical end portion, say a cigar of the Bolknak-type, in a wrapper leaf of special form and wound in one operation starting with a spot on or near the transition between the spherical or conical end portion of the bunch corresponding to the said closed or substantially closed end portion of the cigar and the body of said bunch both on said end portion and on the rest of the bunch. Due to the simple movements of the rolling mech- 3,155,098 Patented Nov. 3, 1964 anism and the leaf holder the wrapping apparatus can be driven with high speed.

Simple members may be used to control the leaf holder. To that end it is advantageous to use a first control member, by means of which the leaf holder is swung with respect to the conveyor exclusively during and as a result of the movement of the latter, and a second control member, by means of which the leaf holder is swung relatively to the stationary conveyor during the rolling process. Consequently, these two control members operate independently and successively on the leaf holder. If the conveyor of the leaf holder is constructed as a single arm mounted for swinging about an axis, the first control member may have a guiding rod extending between a fixed point and the leaf holder and composed of two relatively movable parts interconnected by a spring and held in relative fixed positions by said spring during the movement of said conveyor, whereas the second control member may be directly actuated by the driving mechanism of the apparatus, said second control member moving the leaf holder against the force of the spring of the first control member when the conveyor is at a stand-still. The advantage of this double control is that only the controlling operation of the second control member has to be changed when the apparatus must be made suitable for wrapping cigar bunches of different form.

It is observed that a Wrapping apparatus for Bolknakcigars, in which the wrapper leaf is inserted into the rolling mechanism with a special leading-in flap on or near the transition between the fire-end portion and the body of the bunch and in which the rolling mechanism is moved in a direction transverse to the axis of the rolling space, is known per se. In this known wrapping apparatus the wrapper leaf is laid by a conveyor carrying a first leaf holder on a table acting as second leaf holder and consisting of a stationary part and a movable turn table and the rolling mechanism is moved over said composite table. In said apparatus the hunch is inserted from below into the rolling space at one end of the active stroke of the rolling mechanism and the cigar is removed from the rolling space on the lower side of the rolling mechanism at the other end of said stroke. Owing to the use of a separate composite table for delivering the wrapper leaf to the rolling mechanism this known wrapping apparatus is complicated and can only operate at relatively low speeds. Moreover in said apparatus the chance of stagnation, for instance due to the fact that the wrapper leaf is not delivered onto the composite table by the first leaf holder in the right manner, is greater than in the apparatus according to the invention, in which the wrapper leaf is directly transported by one single leaf holder from the die to the rolling mechanism.

Since in the wrapping apparatus according to the invention the rolling space is exclusively defined by the rollers and other parts of the rolling mechanism, it is advantageous to use the rolling mechanism mounted for reciprocation between a starting position and an end p0- sition in such a manner, that said mechanism is opened exclusively when in its starting position to permit the cigar manufactured during the preceding cycle of operation of being removed from and the bunch to be provided with a wrapper leaf during the next cycle of operation of being placed into the rolling space. This has the advantage that, when during its going stroke the rolling mechanism takes over the wrapper leaf from the leaf holder and winds it around the bunch lying in the rolling space, the rolling mechanism is able to give the cigar lying in the rolling space an after-rolling-treatment during its returning stroke, so that a smoothly wrapped cigar is delivered by the rolling mechanism. This is not possible in the known wrapping apparatus without a complicated construction of the rolling mechanism, since therein the stationary wrapper table and the turn table are also used to define the rolling space and the composite table does not lend itself for the after-rolling treatment of the cigar during the returning stroke of the rolling mechanism. That is why this known wrapping apparatus requires an individual device for this after-treatment.

The reciprocation of the rolling mechanism simplifies the driving of the rollers for winding a wrapper around the bunch and for giving the cigar an after-rolling-treatment. To that end the rollers have only to be coupled with two ropes or chains through two rope pulleys or sprocket wheels provided with freewheels and mounted on a shaft carried by the rolling mechanism. Of these ropes or chains the one for driving the rollers during the going stroke of the rolling mechanism may be driven in such a direction and at such speed as to guarantee that the speed of revolution of the rollers is adapted to the rolling velocity of the bunch and the rope of the chain for driving the rollers during the returning stroke of the rolling mechanism may stand still. The after-rolling-treatment of the cigar is then effected at a lower speed than the rolling velocity, which has appeared to be favourable to said after-treatment. Moreover it is easy to adjust the most favourable wrapping velocity.

The invention will be further elucidated with the aid of the accompanying drawing. Therein is:

FIG. 1 a plan view of the essential part of a wrapping apparatus according to the invention for the manufacturer of cigars of the Bolimak-type.

FIG. 2 an elevational view of the part of said apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 on a larger scale a view of the holding surface of the leaf holder of the wrapping apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 in different positions during the rolling process, said holding surface conforming to the shape of the wrapper leaf.

In the drawing two dies are designated by 1 and 2, on which wrapper leaves of predetermined shape are cut from tobacco leaves by means of upright knives 3 in the shape of said wrapper leaves and pressure rollers 4- which are reciprocated over the edge of said knives. The cut-out wrapper leaves are brought by means of two leaf holders 5 into a position above the path of a rolling mechanism mounted for reciprocation between two end positions and consisting of rollers 6 and smoothing blocks 7, 8. To that end each leaf holder 5 is connected for swinging about a vertical shaft 9 to the free end of a conveyor having the shape of an arm 11 mounted for swinging about a stationary vertical shaft 10.

Each leaf holder 5 is guided by two control members, of which one includes a guiding rod extending between a point 12 of an arm 13 mounted on the shaft 9 and an adjustable fixcd point 14 of the stationary shaft 10, said guiding rod being composed of a rod 15 connected with the point 12 and a tube 16 telescoping on the rod 15 and connected to the point 14, in which tube a compression spring 17 is provided which tends to keep the rod 15 pressed with its abutment 18 against the end surface 19 of the tube 16. The other control member consists of an arm 21 mounted on a shaft and provided with a pushing plate 23 which is held in a horizontal position by a rod 22 and is adapted to be pushed against a roller 24 mounted in the point 12 on the arm 13. In order to move the pushing plate 23 the shaft 20 is provided with an arm 25 connected by a rod 26 to a lever 28 which is mounted for swinging about a shaft 27 and is kept pressed with its roller 30 by a spring 29 against a cam-disc 32 provided on a driven shaft 31 of the driving mechanism of the wrapping apparatus.

If a conveyor arm 11 has brought its leaf holder 5 into a position above the path of the rolling mechanism 6, '7, 8 it is locked by means of a member 34 mounted on a shaft 33 and provided with two rollers 35 which are pushed against-the two upright oblique surfaces of a triangular cam-member 36 provided at the end of the arm 11. For moving the rollers 35 into and out of the locking l position the shaft 33 is provided with an arm 37 which is connected by a rod 38 to a lever 40 mounted for swinging about a shaft 39 and kept with a roller 41 in cooperation with a second cam-disc 43 of the driving shaft 31 by a spring 42.

The rolling mechanism 6, 7, 8 is mounted on a support 44 which is mounted for reciprocation between the two illustrated end positions on bars 45, 46 and is driven by a lever 47 which is pressed with a roller 48 against a third cam-disc 49 of the driving shaft 31. In the starting position of the rolling mechanism shown in dotted lines the two parts of said mechanism are moved from one another by means of a stationary cam 50, in such a manner that the rolling space defined by the rollers 6 and the parts of the smoothing blocks 7, 8 is opened on the upper side in order to admit a cigar bunch 51 into said space. When the rolling mechanism is moved from the starting position to the left it is automatically closed and it then comes within the reach of the leaf holder 5 which carries a wrapper and has in the meantime been swung into a position above the path of the rolling mechanism.

Due to the action of the guiding rod 15, 16 the leaf holder is swung as a result of the swinging movement of the conveyor arm 11 into the position shown in FIG. 1, said position corresponding with the position I shown in PEG. 3 of the wrapper leaf or the corresponding shape of the holding surface of the leaf holder. Assuming that PEG. 3 represents the wrapper leaf, this leaf is provided with a leading-in flap 52, a flag 53 to cover the thick spherical or conical fire-end portion and a portion 54 having a flag 55 for covering the body and the thin spherical or conical mouth-end portion of the bunch, respectively.

During the rolling process the leaf holder is guided exclusively by the pushing plate 23, by means of which the shaft 9 of the leaf holders can be rotated against the force of the spring 17. Just before the rolling mechanism has come underneath the leading-in flap 52 of the wrapper leaf of the leaf holder is swung by the pushing plate 23 into the position II shown in FIG. 3. As soon as the rolling mechanism has reached the leading-in flap 52 said flap is blown into the rolling mechanism by air from the conduit 56. Owing thereto the wrapper leaf is seized between the bunch 51 and the rollers 6 of the rolling mechanism and it is gradually wound around the bunch, in such a manner, that the flag 53 of the wrapper leaf is lain on the fire-end portion and the leaf portion 54 and the flag 55 of said leaf are lain on the body and the mouth-end portion of the bunch, respectively. During the rolling process the leaf holder is successively swung by the pushing plate from the position I into the positions II, III, IV, V shown in FIG. 3 and thereafter the leaf holder is returned to position I by the spring 17. The positions of the rolling mechanism corresponding with these positions of the leaf holder are indicated in FIG. 3 by the positions A, B, C, D and E of the bunch. After the rolling process the looking rollers 35 are released and the conveyor arm 11 is swung back together with the leaf holder 5 to the die 1 or 2 to take up the next wrapper leaf.

It is observed that during the transport of a wrapper leaf to the path of the rolling mechanism said leaf is provided with glue in areas of the leading-in flap 52 and the flags 53 and 55 by a glueing device not shown.

For driving the rollers 6 said rollers are coupled through toothed wheels (not shown) with a shaft 57 which is rotatably supported in the support 44 and provided with two conventional oppositely-freewheeling sprocket wheels 58, 59. The sprocket wheel 58 is driven by an endless chain 60 that is mounted on sprockets 61 and 62 and is driven to the right as shown by arrow 63. Sprocket wheel 59 continuously engages stationary chain 64. Consequently, when support 44 is displaced to the left during the going stroke of the rolling mechanism, the sprocket wheel 59 freewheels and the sprocket wheel 58 drives the rollers at a speed corresponding to the sum of the movement to the right of the chain 60 and of the movement to the left of the rolling mechanism. During return (i.e., right-hand) movement of the rolling mechanism, the velocity of chain 60 is smaller than that of the support 44, and consequently sprocket 58 freewheels and sprocket 59 drives the rollers at a speed corresponding to the return speed of the mechanism since chain 64 is staionary. During the going stroke of the rolling mechanism the bunch is provided with Wrapper leaf and during the returning stroke thereof the rollers of the rolling mechanism continue to rotate in the same direction at decreased speed and thereby the manufactured cigar is given an after-rolling-treatment. After the rolling mechanism has been returned into the starting position shown in dotted lines the manufactured cigar is removed by members (not shown) from the opened rolling mechanism and a next bunch is placed therein.

Due to the relatively simple movements of the rolling mechanism and the leaf holder the wrapping apparatus can be driven with high speed. The capacity of the wrapping apparatus appears to be limited only by the speed, with which the tobacco leaves to be cut out can be manually laid onto the dies 1 and 2.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for applying a wrapper leaf on a cigar bunch, comprising rolling means for rolling a leaf on a bunch, said rolling means including a plurality of rotatably mounted rollers arranged to define a generally-cylindrical horizontal rolling space;

means for reciprocating said rolling means in a horizontal direction normal to the axis of said rolling space;

means for opening said rolling means to admit a bunch into and to permit removal of a cigar from said rolling space;

die means for cutting wrapper leaves of a desired configuration, said die means being spaced from the path of reciprocation of said rolling means;

a movable leaf holder;

conveyor means for moving said leaf holder between said die means and a Wrapper leaf feeding position above the reciprocatory path of said rolling means, said conveyor means including a movable conveyor element, said leaf holder being pivotally connected with said conveyor element for swinging movement about a vertical axis;

means for locking the conveyor element against movement when said leaf holder is in said leaf feeding position;

and means controlling the swinging movement of the leaf holder relative to the conveyor element, said controlling means being operable to pivot said leaf holder through a small angle when said conveyor element is locked by said locking means, whereby said Wrapper leaf is fed to said rolling space to 'effect wrapping of the bunch in a predetermined manner.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said leaf holder controlling means is operable both during movement of said leaf holder between said die means and said leaf feeding position and during the leaf rolling process,

said controlling means including first control member means for swinging said leaf holder relative to the conveyor element exclusively during and as a result of the movement of said conveyor element, and second control member means for swinging the leaf holder relative to said conveyor element when said element is locked by said locking means.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said conveyor element is mounted for swinging movement about a vertical axis, said first control member means comprising a pair of relatively movable members, and spring means operable to hold said members in relatively fixed positions during swinging movement of the conveyor element, said movable members constituting a composite guiding rod connected at opposite ends with a stationary part of the apparatus and With said leaf holder, respectively, said second control member means being mounted for independent actuation and being adapted to swing said leaf holder against the force of said spring means when the conveyor element is locked by said locking means.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said reciprocating means reciprocates said rolling means between starting and end positions, said starting position being adjacent the wrapper leaf feeding position of said leaf holder, said means for opening said rolling means being arranged adjacent said starting position whereby a manufactured cigar produced by one cycle and a bunch to be wrapped during the following cycle are removed from and inserted into said rolling space, respectively, only when said rolling means is in the starting position.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said rolling means further includes first roller drive means for driving said rollers to wrap a leaf around a bunch during travel of said rolling means from said starting position to said end position, and second roller drive means for driving said rollers to give a cigar an after-rolling finishing treatment during return travel of said rolling means from said end position to said starting position.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said first and second roller drive means include a common shaft mounted on said reciprocatory rolling means and connected with said rollers, said first and second roller drive means including, respectively, first and second oppositelyfreewheeling sprockets connected with said shaft.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said first roller drive means includes a continuously driven endless chain connected with said first sprocket, and wherein said second roller drive means includes a stationary chain parallel with and coextensive with the path of reciprocation of said rolling means, said stationary chain being connected with said second sprocket.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 654,202 7/00 Tyberg 13l--33 X 2,226,224 12/40 Giles et a1. 131-33 2,601,856 7/52 Giles 13133 SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A WRAPPER LEAF ON A CIGAR BUNCH, COMPRISING ROLLING MEANS FOR ROLLING A LEAF ON A BUNCH, SAID ROLLING MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF ROTATABLY MOUNTED ROLLERS ARRANGED TO DEFINE A GENERALLY-CYLINDRICAL HORIZONTAL ROLLING SPACE; MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID ROLLING MEANS IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION NORMAL TO THE AXIS OF SAID ROLLING SPACE; MEANS FOR OPENING SAID ROLLING MEANS TO ADMIT A BUNCH INTO AND TO PERMIT REMOVAL OF A CIGAR FROM SAID ROLLING SPACE; DIE MEANS FOR CUTTING WRAPPER LEAVES OF A DESIRED CONFIGURATION, SAID DIE MEANS BEING SPACED FROM THE PATH OF RECIPROCATION OF SAID ROLLING MEANS; A MOVABLE LEAF HOLDER; CONVEYER MEANS FOR MOVING SAID LEAF HOLDER BETWEEN SAID DIE MEANS AND A WRAPPER LEAF FEEDING POSITION ABOVE THE RECIPROCATORY PATH OF SAID ROLLING MEANS, SAID CONVEYOR MEANS INCLUDING A MOVABLE CONVEYOR ELEMENT, SAID LEAF HOLDER BEING PIVOTALLY CONNECTED WITH SAID CONVEYOR ELEMENT FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS; MEANS FOR LOCKING THE CONVEYOR ELEMENT AGAINST MOVEMENT WHEN SAID LEAF HOLDER IS IN SAID LEAF FEEDING POSITION; AND MEANS CONTROLLING THE SWINGING MOVEMENT OF THE LEAF HOLDER RELATIVE TO THE CONVEYOR ELEMENT, SAID CONTROLLING MEANS BEING OPERABLE TO PIVOT SAID LEAF HOLDER THROUGH A SMALL ANGLE WHEN SAID CONVEYOR ELEMENT IS LOCKED BY SAID LOCKING MEANS, WHEREBY SAID WRAPPER LEAF IS FED TO SAID ROLLING SPACE TO EFFECT WRAPPING OF THE BUNCH IN A PREDETERMINED MANNER. 